washington business
From You to Us
Hurray for Some Good News
Regarding Don Brunell’s Sunday blog on Feb. 26 (“Good news for a Sunday —
citizen action works to solve problem, helps people and saves taxpayers money”)
about volunteers picking up the slack for government-funded programs which
have been cut: Let’s hear it for American ingenuity and generosity! Thanks for
sharing this little bit of light and joy.
Marcia Bingham, President
Forks Chamber of Commerce, Forks
Times are Tough, Things are Well at Bogert
Response to a March 2 column, “An Example for Us All,”
by AWB President Don Brunell.
I recently read your article, “An Example for Us All,” because I
am becoming interested in the journalism and freelance market.
You’ve written a featured article about my current employer, Bogert
Group, and how our Cinderella story blossomed to be what it was
during the productive spring season of 2010. Since that time, as you
can assume, we’ve taken some losses and have reduced the number
of employees greatly after our military contract was paused, and
still currently sits idle.
Although this sounds tragic, our current situation actually fits
very fairly into the trend I’ve noticed upon following your latest
articles. During the most difficult of times, even when no shred
of light is in sight, we still work together with the confidence of
producing our own luminescence, and with this guidance lead us
to economic survival. Humankind’s survival was shaky at best until
they harnessed the ability to create fire and through that innovation
begins a wave of evolution.
The key to my rant here is the tell-tale signs of survival and
the predictability of becoming truly successful. I would like to
inform everyone that the Bogert Group is not thriving in luscious
conditions, but we are fighting alongside other small businesses
of Washington state and the nation. Although we’ve halted in our
biggest military contract to date, there have been several other
projects boosting us back into the playing field and keeping us in
range of those big name contenders.
Since your last article we’ve given birth to the sister company,
Uncle Norm’s Marine Products, while developing new products
for Bogert Aviation. We’ve constructed communications with
military groups such as the BAE Systems, Navistar Defense, Indigen
Armor and, of course, our very own military. Our presence in the
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association of washington business
mainstream has yet to be peaked but slowly climbs. YouTube videos
have been created and products have been featured in reviews and
tests by publications such as Pontoon and Deckboat Magazine, and
documentaries have been filmed upon the request of independent
film crews.
This hard work to sustain ourselves was not a matter of
finances backing up our advertisement but is truly the product of
our employees working together as a team. The employees who
remained have picked up new tricks and trades and have gone
beyond standard employee means, in order to pick up the slack and
develop the necessary components a company needs for survival
into today’s difficult economic times. All small businesses go
through rough patches and everyone wishes for the golden days,
but when you see so much confidence in the eyes of your peers,
there is a realization of what the golden days truly are. I started
as a metal fabricator and still am the main fabrication specialist
but during my down time when work orders are seldom, I write
and prepare press releases in hopes of creating more traffic and
affiliates for our company.
The energy being transmitted from this crew provides me with
the confidence to write to you and delve into topics and career
questions I never imagined back during the busy spring of 2010. I’d
like to just close out with a thank you for the article you featured
on us in 2010. Please keep up on the great articles because I’ll
be referencing your style for future